Gift cards (and pre-paid cards) for use by consumers in consumer transactions are typically issued by and for a particular merchant. For example, Apple, Inc. may issue, at an Apple store and upon direct and immediate payment by a consumer, gift cards for use by the consumer or others in the same or different Apple stores. Gift cards for a merchant may also be purchased on the merchant's website. For example, Apple, Inc. may have an online store at which, upon direct and immediate payment by a consumer, gift cards may be purchased for use in Apple stores.
Accordingly, the purchasing of gift cards is often limited to visiting the physical store or online store of the merchant for which the gift card is applicable to. Creating additional sales channels would increase the transaction flow on desired issuer cards resulting in increased revenue. Merchants would experience increased sales from the gift cards. Payment processors also benefit from increases in transaction revenue due to increases in pre-paid card sales volumes.
These and other challenges are addressed by embodiments of the invention, individually and collectively.